Safety device for revolvers.



J. H. WESSON.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR REVOLVERS. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE18, 1909 Patented Jpne 14,1910.

INVENTOR.

A TTORIVEYJ.

JOSEPH H. WESSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR REVOLVERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 14, 1910.

Application filed June 18, 1909. Serial No. 503,034.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. WESSON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at- Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Revolvers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to firearms and specifically to a novel construction of a safetystop for the hammer whereby it may be positively blocked in inoperative position when the hammer is down.

The invention consists in the construction shown in the accompanying drawings and described and claimed in the following specification.

In the drawings forming part of this application,Figure l is a side elevation of the lock mechanism of a revolver with the hammer in cocked position and having the invention applied thereto. The side plate has been removed and a piece of the mechanism supported thereon has been shown in its proper relation to the other parts. Fig. 2 is the same as Fig. 1 with the exception that the trigger has been pulled back farther to release the hammer, which is shown in the position it would occupy with its nose in contact with the primer of a cartridge. The position of the other parts of the mechanism is substantially the same as that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is substan tially the same as Fig. 2 except that the trigger has been released and the hammer-retracting mechanism thereby rendered operative to retract the hammer and has, by that action, effected the interposition of a block between the face of the hammer and the frame. Fig. 4: is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the sideplate and the sliding-block supported therein, the end of which is interposed between the hammer and the frame, the side plate also carrying a lever engaged by the retracting mechanism to actuate said slide-block. Fig. 5 is a perspective view, also on an enlarged scale, of the sliding block and its actuating lever showing the relation of these two parts.

Referring now to these drawings, a indicates the frame of the firearm, b the hammer, c the trigger, d the hammer-retracting block, al being an arm pivoted on the trigger at the end of which bears on the end of the block cl and pushes it back against a spring the hand to rotate the cylinder, 7 a sliding block mounted in a suitable groove in a side 7 plate 9 (see Fig. 4) the upper end of which is, by the action of the hannner-retracting block 03, interposed between the hammer and the frame to positively block the forward movement of the hammer at certain times, a perspective View of this block being shown in Fig. 5.-

The sliding-block f is actuated by the movement of the hammer-retracting block (Z by means of a connection between these two parts consisting of a lever h pivotally supported on the side-plate g by a screw is, the free end of the lever extending toward and entering a recess m in the lower end of the sliding block f, as clearly shown in the drawings. This lever, lying as it does within the groove in the side-plate g, provides an operative connection with the hammerretracting block at by means of an arm 0 integral with said lever h and extending at right angles to the plane of the side plate over the top of the block (Z, where it enters a transversely located groove 32 within which it has a loose fit. This short arm 0 is located below the axis of the lever it (represented by the screw 74) and therefore when the block d is actuated by its spring 9, in one direction, or by the movement of the trigger in the other direction, toward and from the trigger, the arm 72, will be depressed or elevated, thus imparting the requisite endwise movements to the slide-block f whereby at the proper time the offset projection r on the upper end thereof may be interposed between a seat 8 provided therefor on the frame and the squared off portion t on the hammer just below the nose of the latter, see Fig. 1. This movement of the slide-block f is so timed that its upward movement from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 3 closely follows the retracting of the hammer by the block (Z from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3. As long as the pull is maintained on the trigger, the hammer-retracting block d will be held in its rearmost position, shown in Fig. 2, with the free end of the lever h depressed, and the sliding block consequently drawn down far enough to locate the projection 1' on the upper end thereof opposite the cut-away portion of the breast of the hammer at a, Fig. 1, to the end that when the hammer falls, the nose thereof may extend far enough through the recoil plate of the arm to come in contact with the primer of the cartridge, as shown in Fig. 2. Upon the release of the trigger, the spring 9 of the block 1! will move the latter forward, and the projection 10 on said block, being forced against a like projection on the lower edge of the hammer, will swing the upper end of the latter back and retract the nose thereof within the recoil plate, the retracting movement applied to the hammer taking place somewhat in advance of the upward movement of the sliding-block because of the slight play which is provided for the arm 0 in the transverse slot 32 on the block cl. It will thus be seen that all the retracting movement of the hammer is effected by the block 61 and the only duty which the lever h has to perform is to elevate the freely movable sliding block into position to block the forward movement of the hammer after the latter has been retracted. When the trigger is pulled to cook the hammer, the hammer-retracting block d is moved to the rear and the spring 9 compressed, and, simultaneously by the means described, the sliding block f is drawn downward to locate the projection 'r' thereon in such position that the hammer will not strike it when it falls. The fall of the hammer is arrested by the contact of the shoulder t with the frame at s. The same action of the parts takes place if the hammer is cooked by the thumb.

What I claim as my invention, is

1. The combination with the frame of a revolver, of a slide-block having a free endwise movement on a part of the frame, a trigger and hammer, and means to retract the hammer after the fall thereof, and means of engagement extending between the hammer-retracting device and said slide-block to move the latter out of, and into position to block the forward movement of the hammer.

2. In a revolver, a hammer, and a retracting mechanism for the latter, a slide-block movable into, and out of, a space between the hammer and the frame when the hammer is in a retracted position, a lever pivoted to the frame of the arm and having a positive connection with the hammer-retracting device and with said slide-block, whereby the latter may be actuated at the proper time by the movement of the hannner-retracting device.

JOSEPH H. W'ESSON. Witnesses:

K. I. CLEMONS, I'IARRY W. BOWEN. 

